Professional investors can benefit from FDA’s expertise in several ways, depending on the size and characteristics of their portfolios. For institutional investors, FDA has several propositions, including:

Research: subscription-based access to FDA Consultancy, an on-line investment decision support tool for institutional investors that reflects the daily output of the FDA team. FDA Consultancy comprises the risk/return and sustainability assessment of more than 170 international blue chip companies. The macroeconomic module contains the analysis of relevant macroeconomic trends based on a flow-of-funds method. The findings of equity and macro analysis are clearly linked to different portfolio management styles through FDA model portfolios.

Full Portfolio Advice: the most comprehensive of our services, includes access to FDA Consultancy, private consultation, statistical data and reporting. Advice is provided for both equity and fixed-income portfolios. Our clients include pension funds, asset managers, charity funds, family offices etc.

FDA equity research methodology is based upon the investment rating system, which quantifies the relative risk / return opportunities of shares vis-à-vis the highest quality debtor. The perceived level of risk inherent to a stock is reflected in a fundamental rating that is based upon a number of criteria, including the quality of management, competitive advantage, financial strength, consistency of earnings etc. The expected return on a twelve-month basis is assessed based on the discounted cash flow and sum-of-the-parts models. Based on this method, the relative attractiveness of equities across the FDA Research universe is represented on a simple risk/return graph:

Within the framework chosen for FDA’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment, sustainability aspects are divided into three main categories: economic, social and environmental. In order to quantify and compare sustainability performance, companies are reviewed and rated on each of these three dimensions. As a result, a company receives a total score, expressed as a percentage of total available points (for example, 86 percent), and three separate scores to reflect its performance on each dimension. A sustainability matrix is constructed to assess the company’s performance within the sector and the FDA Universe. The findings are also illustrated by charts that represent the company’s performance vis-à-vis the sector average on each dimension and its total score.